THE NEW YORKER {/Gotel q;iette FIFTH A VENUE AT 61 ST STREET NEW YORK SUITE RESERVATIONS Now Bezng Made OPEN OCTOBER FIRST 2 Choice Midtown APARTMENTS Easily accessible: Maintained in the modern manner-under the personal supervision of the Owner 9 E. 96 th St. OFF FIFTH AVENUE Overlooking Central Park 4 & 6 Rooms with 2 &: 3 Baths Beautiful IS-story Building. Permanent light protection. 435 E. 57 th St., Sutton Place 3-4-5 Rooms IS stories of sunshine and com- fort. Permanent light protection. VERY ATTRACTIVE RENTALS Apply supt. on premises-or M. M. DRYFOOS 424 Madison Av. Wickersham 9170 goods. Scarcely a building remained tanding Ü1 South, -Front, Pearl, Stone, J eavcr, \\T ater, Merchant, Hanover, and other important streets, while, with the exception of fi ve houses, the south side of \Vall Street h.ld heen de- stroyed frOill \Villiaill to South Street. According to the computation of the G'1ourier & Enquirer, one of the two morning papers which escaped the de- struction, six hundred and seventy-four buildings were burned. Other accounts give different figures, ranging upward from five hundred and twenty-eight. The loss was estimated at fro111 twenty 111illion dollars to twenty-fi ve million dollars, which, in comparison with the wealth and population of the city, would be equivalent to a 1110dern loss of almost half a billion dollars. The amount of insurance in effect was about ten million dollars, lIttle of which was ever paid, for the disaster was so overwhelming that most of the insurance companies and banks were compelled to suspend opera- tions. t\rth ur Tappan, a prominent Abolitionist and a silk merchant, who with his brother Lewis founded the Journal of G'1ommerce, is said to have fared better than any other business- man whose establishment was in the burned area. His store was a stone building at 122 Pearl Street. Soon after the Abolition Riots of 1834, when his place was attacked by mobs, he had equipped his windows with shutters of thick boiler iron, which resisted the flames long enough for one hundred thousand dollars' worth of merchandise to be carried into the street. Most of Tappan's goods were saved by Negroes w horn he had befriended. N ew York insurance offices would not write pol- icies on Tappan's property because he was an Abolitionist, but from Boston companies he had obtained insurance amounting to about three hundred thousand dollars, all of which was paid. Many rumors that the great fire was of incendiary origin were afloat, but none was ever verified. The authorities finaHy decided that it had been caused by the explosion of a gas pipe in the house at 25 Merchant Street. -HERBERT ASBURY . FELLOW SHIP Humming-birds give little squeaks Every now and then; So do rats, And so do bats, And so do cornered men. -RUTH LAMBERT JONES 37 .... ",., \o \ .. - .... " <<*1 an t , ond II Leather So les Rubber So les "T TIN - G RIPS' This is a nlost unusual op- portunity to replenish your w'ardrobe with "America's Finest" sport and golf shoes -at savings you may never enjoy again. All of our sport and golf models are included-even our famous "Twin-Grip" golf shoes which are worn and endorsed by many of our country's leading "pros". All Our Otvn Make Some models priced as low as $7 F !!;;: ) ; ER NEW YORI< SHOPS 350 Madison Ave. 365 Broadway 253 W. 57th St. 153 Broadway 131 West 42nd St. 1263 Broadway BROOKLYN 3ß7 Fulton St